A glass of steaming milky syrupy tea is best served cut. One by two or two by three, it embodies the spirit of sharing and camaraderie (and more significantly a resource crunch). Come, have a sip.
Desi jugaad or Indian ingenuity is legendary. Be it churning lassi in washing machines or using condoms to provide a smooth finish to tarred roads, necessity is the mother of amazing inventions in our nation. Even governments here run on jugaad.
Yesterday, in Vaishali, the boom town of Ghaziabad, came across a rickshaw that looked a little different, with headlights, indicators and all. On further investigation, discovered an engine beneath the seat.
The driver/owner of the rickshaw (I cannot recollect his name) says that his motorcycle rickshaw contraption is one-of-its-kind in the area.
He charges a premium of Rs 5 over the usual rickshaw fare in exchange for speed. Fitted with a moped engine, the motorcycle rickshaw (or should we call it a moped rickshaw?) gives 40 kilometres to the litre. He assures that his vehicle wouldn't topple if it encounters a bump at 40 kmph (the top speed according to him).
Asked about braking, "Power brakes," he replies with pride.
His only worry is that the transport department says that he cannot ply his vehicle without a license plate, something he expects to get soon.
With the narrow cycle rickshaw tyres, travelling at high speeds doesn't seem to be a good idea. Moreover the absense of proper suspension wouldn't make the journey very comfortable in the bylanes of Ghaziabad.
It is quite common to find carts (thelas) fitted with scooter engines on Indian roads, but it was the first time that I saw a petrol-powered cycle rickshaw. Do let me know if such example exist elsewhere.
By the way, what happened to the much hyped solar-powered rickshaws that were supposed to be launched in Delhi?
I'm yet to watch the movie. Intend to do that over the weekend. There are too many things happening out here, for me to sit back and watch a film in leisure.
The concept is appealing, and the bits that I viewed, while converting it, displayed some decent work in animation. Simple can be a lot of fun.
Since in a welcome move the creator of the film Nina Paley has shared it under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License, I'm putting it up here and in different formats to suit different needs.
About the film: Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady of India's epic the Ramayan and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests.
Nina (the filmmaker Nina Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita's life when her husband - in India on a work project - decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email.
Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents - linking the popularity of the Ramayan from India all the way to the Far East - narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.
In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayan. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs.
A tale of truth, justice and a woman's cry for equal treatment. Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."
About the filmmaker:
Nina Paley (b. May 3, 1968, Champaign, Illinois, USA) is a longtime veteran of syndicated comic strips, creating Fluff (Universal Press Syndicate), The Hots (King Features), and her own alternative weekly Nina's Adventures. In 1998 she began making independent animated festival films, including the controversial yet popular environmental short, The Stork. In 2002 Nina followed her then-husband to Trivandrum, India, where she read her first Ramayan.
This inspired her first feature, Sita Sings the Blues, which she animated and produced single-handedly over the course of five years on a home computer.
Nina teaches at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan and is a 2006 Guggenheim Fellow.
Hunky John Abraham and dusky Jiah Khan in a commercial for Wrangler Jeans. Both get close and closer. Fingers slip into the belt loop, hands get beneath the thighs. And given Jiah's penchant for water she wants to do it under the shower. But John has other plans - a long run away in a bathtub on the riverside. "Do It Your Way - Wrangler".
Delhi Times reports/advertises that the ad for model-VJ Pia Trivedi's new show on ETC channel, Dress Circle, is "too hot to handle."
And the Censor Board has asked for cuts in the promo (to be shown in cinema theatres) as they were "too hot and daring" and even post the cuts it would be released "only in theatres running films with an 'A' ccertificate."
Obviously, I got curious and decided to have a look at the "hot" ad and was disappointed to find it a bit damp.
Edgy! Sexy! Hardcore! Prepare to be a part of my circle... Dress Cirlce Under Bollywood's skin! Circle of movies... With me Pia Every Friday Only on ETC Every Friday 7:30 PM
Pia Trivedi in ETC Dress Cirlce promo photo gallery:
Akshay Kumar is one movie star who is getting better with age (I didn't like his latest hit Singh is Kinng though) and this is on display in the new ad for Levis 501 jeans. And muscles look good on him (unlike Shah Rukh Khan displaying his overhyped 'six-pack').
The girl in the ad whose unbuttoning endeavour is cut short by the director's shout, comes back and seductively tells Akki, "See you next time, unbuttoned all the way."
There have been quite a lot of women in the Sexy Indian Ads section of this blog. Time to take care of the needs of the straight female readership.
The video (I've for the time being abandoned the old video player, it was too much of a pain for a little style):
Their tag line says "The best thing to happen to men since women."
Well, tag lines can claim anything.
But if you are interested in babes, sex, gadgets, babes, beer, laughs, babes, cars, fashion, babes and a few more babes, then you might be interested in the magazine.
There's more to see than read in there, therefore it doesn't take much time to reach from the front to the back cover.
And there's also a digital version in a CD for the guys (and gals) with pulpuslaceratapohobia.
For me the ads also matter and Maxim (the desi edition) has a few of them that fit into the 'Sexy Indian Ads' category of this blog.
Here they are, in print and as moving images (including the one above):
[This ad actually reminds me of an 1996 or 1997 issue of an Indian men's magazine (there were quite a few back then therefore am getting confused with the name) featuring photos of a girl in a cricket kit (and nothing much else on).] How to bowl a maiden over. And everything else on a man's mind.
We know men care about their girls and tools. Only tools don't make for great cover pictures.
Caution it may melt your mouse. First time in India. eMaxim. World's largest selling men's magazine. Now on a CD.
Cover girls International girls Inside girls Maxim girls archive Miss Maxim Maxim girls home Girls www.maximindia.in
[Click on image for a larger view / download options]
A few photographs from my visit to the Taj at the last puff of 2006.
From the Archaeological Survey of India plaque outside the monument:
The Taj Mahal was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan (reign 1628-1658 AD), grandson of Akbar, the Great, in memory of his queen Arjumand Bano Begum, entitled 'Mumtaz Mahal.' She was niece of Empress Nur Jahan and grand-daughter of Mirza Ghias Beg "I'timad-ud-Daulah" Vazir of Emperor Jehangir. She was born in 1593 and was married to Prince Khurram (Shah Jahan) in 1612. She died in 1631 on the birth of her 14th child, at Burhanpur where she was temporarily buried. Six months later the body was transferred to Agra and finally enshrined in the crypt of the main tomb. Shah Jahan who died in 1666 was also buried here. The Taj Mahal is the mausoleum of both Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan. Originally styled as 'Pauza-i-Munavvara' and 'Rauza-i-Mumtaz Mahal,' gradually it became famous as Taj Mahal and Taj-Bibi-ka-Rauza (the Garden Tomb of the Taj Queen).
It is sited at the right bank of the river Jamuna at a point where it takes a sharp turn and flows eastward. The location has a correct orientation for the adjunct-mosque, minimum thrust of water, and above all, a large natural lake to provide it with a continuous protective cover of moisture. The river with 30 feet deep clean water was thus a constituent of its original design.
Originally the land where the Taj Mahal stands belonged to the Kachhwahas of Amer (Jaipur) and was acquired from them in lieu of four havelis. The construction began from the foundations. A network of wells was laid in the sub-structure to support the huge building. Masons, stonecutters, inlayers, carvers, painters, calligraphers, dome-builders and other artisans were requisitioned from the whole of the Empire and from Central Asia and Iran. While bricks for internal skeleton were locally made, white marble for external surfaces was obtained from Makrana. Semi-precious stones for inlay ornamentation were brought from distant regions of India, Ceylon and Afghanistan. It was completed in 1648 in 17 years, at the cost of Rupees four crore (40 million) when gold was sold at Rs 15 per tola (11.66 grams).
In all, it covers an area of 60 bhigas. As terrain gradually sloped from south to north, towards the river, it is laid out in descending terraces. At the southern point is the forecourt with the main gate in the front and tombs of Akbarabadi Begum and Fatehpuri Begum, two other queens of Shah Jahan, on its south-east and south-west corners, respectively. On the second terrace is a spacious char-bagh garden divided into four quarters by broad shallow canals, with wide walkways and cypress avenues on the sides. They are studded with fountains which were fed by overhead water tanks situated in the adjoining Bagh Khan-i-'Alam.
The main tomb is placed at the northern edge of this garden, to tower majestically on the river. It integrated the Taj with the blue sky, and provided it with a beautiful natural background, which was constantly changing from sunrise to midnight. The changing colours of the sky descended softly on its white marble and it looked ever new at every moment. This newness is the secret of its beauty.
The main tomb was designed under the guidance of the Emperor himself. It marks the perfect moment in the evolution of Mughal tomb-architecture and only its composition is novel. Thus the minarets are detached and placed to face the chamfered angles (corners) of the main tomb. Its perfect proportions were evolved in wooden models and, though it is such a gigantic building, rising to 285 feet from the river level with 187 feet width (of the main tomb), it looks in fact like a small model. Its geometrical symmetry is also unique. On its sides are red sandstone Mosque and Jam'at-Khana, architecturally for a contrast.
Though it has some wonderful specimens of polychrome inlay art, in the interior: on the dados, on cenotaphs and on the marble jhajjari (jali-screen) around them, and on the exterior on the spandrels of the arches, this ornament is sparce and minimal, and it does not play any role in the total aesthetic effect of the building, which is totally architectonic.
It was efficiently maintained by expert architects and engineers with the help of skilled masons, gardeners, and other workers, until it fell on bad days, in the 18th century AD [Portion of text whitened out. Probably refers to vandalism by the colonial powers. A mention which perhaps wasn't to the liking of some]. The British replaced the original gold kalash finial in 1810 and, the Taj was once - during the regime of William Bentinck - put to auction only for the value of its marble. Fortunately this sacrilege was averted. The Taj survived, although in bare skeletal form without the imperial coverings. Since the Archeological Survey of India was established in 1861, it is properly maintained and conserved.
One of the most beautiful creations of man on earth, it is variously admired: as a 'Materialised vision of Loveliness,' a 'Dream in Marble,' a 'Nobel Tribute to the Grace of Indian Womanhood' and a 'Resplendent Immortal Tear Drop on the Cheek of Time.' It symbolises India's composite culture. It is reckoned among the wonders of the world and is inscribed as a WORLD HERITAGE SITE by UNESCO.
According to a rough calculation based on the figures mentioned above, the cost of construction of the Taj Mahal in today's currency would be around Rs 2,604 crores (Rs 26.04 billion), the US currency equivalent would be approximately $651 million.
In comparison Delhi's ostentatious Akshardham Temple took Rs 200 crores to build.
[Click on image for a larger view / download options]
I'm enjoying putting up these slide shows. So thought of doing away with my (obnoxious) practice of putting up a separate post for title images which I 'retire.' Instead will have this single post with an updatable slideshow featuring all the images that adorned the title space of this blog.
[Click on image for a larger view / download options]
A UNESCO World Heritage site, Fathehpur Sikri was built by the Mughal Emperor Akbar in honour of the Sufi saint Shaikh Salim Chisti {and also his conquest of Gujarat). It is believed that it was by his blessings that the Emperor got a son, Jehangir. Constructed in the sixteenth century, Fatehpur Sikri derives its name from Fatehpur (literally the City of Victory) and Sikri, an adjoining village where Salim Chisti resided. The red sandstone structure houses the tomb (dargah) of Salim Chisti, the humongous Buland Darwaza and the Jama Masjid.
Fatehpur Sikri was abandoned about a decade-and-a-half after it was built, purportedly for the lack of water (one woe that continues to ail modern India). We (four of us) visited Jalaluddin Muhammad's short-lived capital on the eve of the New Year. No partying for us, it was basking in history centuries old.
Desi jugaad or Indian ingenuity is legendary. Be it churning lassi in washing machines or using condoms to provide a smooth finish to tarred roads, necessity is the mother of amazing inventions in our nation. Even governments here run on jugaad. 
